Real and Mythical Ghost Ships, Part 2: The Flying Dutchman

About Ghost Ships

There is no area on land which can compare to the desolation and loneliness of the high seas. This desolation, combined with the stories of sailors from centuries past, has created maritime legends of great monsters, of horrible sights which mean doom for any vessels unlucky enough to behold them, of places where ships vanish with no trace, and of mythical ghost ships… ragged sailing vessels and rusting hulks manned by the dead.

Even without such legends, the sea is a dangerous place. Storms, mutinies, disease, and piracy have caused the deaths of countless sea travelers over the years, and such events can easily wipe out the entire population of a ship. With these dangers, not only have the seas been home to mythical ghost ships, but there have been many cases over the years of real ghost ships – vessels which continue to journey the oceans with dogged determination, even when everyone aboard is missing or dead.

This series will cover all of the famous ghost ships throughout history, both mythical and real. This weeks article will focus on one of the most famous seagoing tales of all – the story of The Flying Dutchman.

What is The Flying Dutchman?

The Flying Dutchman legend is one of a spectral ship whose hauntings center around the Cape of Good Hope, just off the Southern tip of Africa. The vessel has sometimes appeared as an insubstantial ghost which glows with a red light, and at other times as an archaic yet somewhat solid large sailing ship. There have been dozens of reported Flying Dutchman sightings over the last 350 years.

‘The Flying Dutchman’ is not the name of the ship. It is used sometimes as the nickname for the Captain of the ghostly vessel, and is also used as a reference to the legend itself. In most such tales, the ship in question is nameless. Most Flying Dutchman viewers are in no position to worry about the ship’s name anyway, as a sighting of this vessel is considered to be a sign of disaster to come, and many such encounters are followed shortly thereafter by either the death of one of the observers or the sinking of the observing ship.

There have also been accounts of the Flying Dutchman’s ship, in a more solid state, hailing passing boats. If communicated with, the dead ship will send over a party of pale, exhausted looking crew members who will hand over letters and request that the ‘living’ ship ensure that these letters are delivered back to The Netherlands. If this mail is investigated, it will be seen that the letters are addressed to long dead loved ones and refer to events and technologies from the mid 1600’s. Acceptance of the mail will always result in certain doom for the ship which takes them on board, as such correspondence is destined never to reach land.